coralreef

Stunning, breathtaking, gorgeous, take your pick, any number of adjectives would work to describe the world's coral reefs. But, sadly, another word would work as well: disappearing.

As a combination of climate change, overfishing and pollution is slowly destroying the reefs, one project is using panoramic imagery to catalog what's happening and help the scientific community come together to solve this problem before there aren't any reefs left to save.

We won't deny it: we love a good lost and found story. When a camera goes drifting out to sea or is lost in an earthquake, only to turn up months or even years later with the photos still intact, we can't help but smile and share the story.

In this case, kitesurfer Jens Knof lost his friend's brand new GoPro Hero in February of 2011. When a spearfisherman found it two and a half months later just hanging out at the bottom of the reef, Knof was both relieved and amazed.

If you've always wanted to go scuba diving at the Great Barrier Reef but haven't had a chance to, this might be one of the next best things: Google has added gorgeous underwater panoramic photographs to Street View, allowing to swim around at the world's largest coral system as if it were a street in your neighborhood.